Tribunal amends laws to expedite genocide trials

The UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, (ICTR) has amended 23 of its laws and rules of procedure and introduced new ones to enable it to expedite trials for the remaining suspects of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda who are in the court's custody in Arusha, Tanzania. The amendments were adopted on Thursday after the 13th plenary session of the tribunal's judges. Tribunal Spokesman Roland Amoussouga told a news conference that new changes address the loopholes within the current rules of procedure and evidence, thereby to enable the judges to conduct the trials faster. The amendments follow widespread criticism of the tribunal by sections of the international community and the Rwandan government over delays in trial proceedings. Amoussouga said that the changes seek to harmonise ICTR rules of procedures with those of the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), based in The Hague, Netherlands. The changes include a provision for the substitution of a judge who is unable to continue presiding over a case. The new rule allows for the incoming judge to continue with the case from where his predecessor left off, unlike in the past when a trial would have to restart if one of the three judges left midway. Amoussouga said this would reduce the time a detainee spent in custody, pending case deliberation. Moreover, under the amended rules, ICTR detainees will for the first time be able to seek provisional release following the removal of a clause that required them to provide "exceptional circumstances" for provisional release. "The chamber must now only have to hear from the host country and be satisfied that the accused will appear for trial and not cause a danger," Ammoussouga quoted one of the new rules. He told reporters that the plenary session had proposed the amendment of 44 laws and rules of procedure, but amended and adopted only 23 of them. Plea-bargain agreements between the prosecution and defence teams have also been introduced as a way of expediting the trials. Under the arrangement, if an accused pleads guilty, the prosecution can recommend that the chamber mitigate the sentence. However, the rule does not bind the judges to the agreement in the plea-bargain arrangement - a common aspect of Western judicial systems. The UN Security Council set up the ICTR in 1995 to try perpetrators of the genocide in Rwanda, which claimed the lives of more than 800,000 people. Out of 80 indictments signed by the tribunal, 65 suspects have been held so far. The rest are still at large. "It is very important that we ensure that we do not waste time," Amoussouga said. "Whereas there have been some loopholes which enabled delays, they have been identified and collective action has been taken to make sure they are addressed."